Up through the years I have tried out many versions of Puppy. Along the way I have picked up a few useful hints and tips and I discover new things every day. I was wondering if anyone would be interested if I tried to describe my setup and new discoveries here in this thread so that others might pick up some solution to setup and configuration problems they might have. Any comments would be greatly appreciated. My 4.1.1 is installed on a USB stick. For people with hard disk installs some of these procedures might be different.

Updating Geany, the text editor behind the edit icon on the desktop
The Geany version in 4.1.1 is 0.12. To update to 0.15 go to http://www.badongo.com/file/12268795 and download. Then install as per instructions. To have the edit icon open 0.15 go to Menu->Filesystem->ROX-Filer->/usr/local/bin->rightclick defaulttexteditor icon->Open As Text->Replace "geany" with "/usr/local/bin/geany" and save. Check out http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=36094 if more info is needed.

OpenOffice 3 USB stick install
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?search_id=421482354&t=34325
The OpenOffice-3.0 file is an .sfs file. Download this file into the same folder you have the pup_save.2fs file. If you don't know where that is go to Menu->Filesystem->Pfind file finder. Write pup_save.2fs and search. Pfind will show you the path.
Then go to console and write md5sum /path to/OpenOffice-3.0.sfs
Compare the number you get to the number 2f8d4e99805a8f929d664c6f60a9d2f9. If it's the same number you're ok. If not, download the file again.
Go to Menu->System->BootManager configure bootup->Choose which extra SFS files to load at bootup. Mark OpenOffice-3.0.sfs and push Add. Make sure that "Ignore above user selection, load all with '_411' in filename" is not ticked. OK and Quit. Reboot.

OpenOffice3 sfs HD install
Further down this thread KC1DI and vanchutr have described an easy way to use an sfs file in an HD install. I haven't tried it myself so I can't write out the instructions in detail here. If anyone tries it out please write back how it went and exactly what you did. Remember it has to be on a full! HD install.

Firefox 3.03 with Java and Flash sfs file
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?search_id=935981159&t=31739
To install follow the instructions for the OpenOffice .sfs file. The only difference is the md5sum and the file name.
Remember to go to Firefox->Edit->Preferences->Advanced->Update->Tick the boxes you want and/or go to Help->Check for Updates...
Go to /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop and drag icon to desktop
If you think the Firefox icon stands out from the other icons you can go to Menu->Desktop->Desktop icon switcher and choose Original
If you would like the browse icon to open Firefox instead of SeaMonkey go to /usr/local/binary and rightclick on defaultbrowser. File 'defaultbrowser'->Open As Text. Simply replace the word "mozstart" with the word "firefox" and save.

Opera
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?search_id=1820539487&t=26564
For autoscroll go to http://www.opera.com/support/usingopera/operaini/index.dml and press the Extended Center Mousebutton Action link. Set to zero and save.
Go to /usr/share/applications/opera.desktop and drag icon to desktop
If you think the Opera icon stands out from the other icons you can go to Menu->Desktop->Desktop icon switcher and choose Original
If you would like the browse icon to open Opera instead of SeaMonkey go to /usr/local/binary and rightclick on defaultbrowser. File 'defaultbrowser'->Open As Text. Simply replace the word "mozstart" with the word "opera" and save.

Seamonkey autoscroll
Goto about:config
To change entries just doubleclick on the line
Filter:middle
browser.tabs.opentabfor.middleclick set entry to false
middlemouse.contentLoadURL set entry to false
middlemouse.openNewWindow set entry to false
middlemouse.paste set entry to true
middlemouse.scrollbarPosition set entry to false
Filter: scroll
general.autoScroll set entry to true
general.smoothScroll set entry to true

If Seamonkey can't compose and send in Hotmail
Goto about:config
Filter: general.useragent.extra.Seamonkey
Doubleclick the line and write "Firefox/2.0 really Seamonkey/1.1.11" in the new window

USB specific
At regular intervals you will notice "Saving RAM to 'pup_save' file..." on top of the screen. A USB stick has a limited number of read and write cycles before it goes bad. My Kingston 4GB DataTraveler is certified for 100 000 cycles. Yours may be capable of less. In the Menu->System->Puppy Event Manager->Save Session you can specify intervals between saves. If you are continuously writing or modifying use shorter intervals. If the pc is idle for hours at a time and your activity come in bursts use long intervals and the save icon to prolong the life of the USB stick.

I will keep on editing and adding to this post as I discover new things of interest. If anything is unclear, confusing or not detailed enough from a new users point of view please give me a hint and I'll elaborate.

This is just a short note to say I have finished the primary post foundation. From now on I'll be adding significant new additions and revisions in new posts and also incorporating them in the primary post. Thanks for any suggestions and comments.

Thanks for the suggestion. I have never changed defaults. Could you please write out the procedure in more detail so I can try it out and put it in the main post? Thanks!

Artie

Sure thing. Here is an example for the Default Word Processor, which I think is Abiword............
1)Search for the script, which is called defaultwordprocessor, all one word. the search will take you to /usr/local/bin defaultwordprocessor
2)Right click on the script, and from the options that pop up, select 'open as text'
3)This will load the text into your text editor, and you can change it to whatever you want.
4)Save and exit
Done.

Here is the command on my system that changes it to Open Office Writer

Code:

exec /opt/openoffice.org2.4/program/swriter "$@"

You will find all the 'default' series scripts there, and can change them as you want._________________Spup Frugal HD and USB
Root forever!

Thanks very much for this simple explanation! I have put it into the browser segments since it only seems natural that if you download a different browser you might also want to make it your default.

Artie

Hi Artie ,
Thanks for the nice write up.

You may want to think of writing it up as a how to and posting it in the How to solution section , it would be easier to find and long lasting on the Forum.
Just a thought. but thanks for the nice write up
Dave

Your posting is a good collection of "need to know" items, I appreciate you posting this. You asked for comments so I will go through each of your areas and try them out. I'll offer comments they come to mind.

My system is an HD install using "full" rather than "frugal."

The first few worked perfectly, very clear and easy to follow.

The "updating Geany" one left me puzzled because, as a newbie, I have no idea what Geany is. After looking through Puppy's main menu I figured out it is the text editor. I will do that later, I don't need it right now.

I do want Firefox 3 so I tried that. It says I should "download this file into the same folder you have the pup_save.2fs file." I searched, using Pfind as instructed, and find no pup_save.2fs file on my system (which is, as noted above, an HD install using "full" rather than "frugal."

So now I am stuck. I look forward to your reply.

Jay

PS: I am also having a problem with Puppy not remembering my network setup after a reboot. Perhaps you could address that?

PPS: I am very grateful for your assistance. I am finding Puppy to be a superb download and look forward to resolving the few issues I have with it.

One additional thought - a brief tutorial on how to configure networking from within Puppy would be extremely (!) helpful.

Specifically:
1. How to make the Puppy PC visible to the Windows machines on my workgroup
2. How to enable Puppy to see the Windows machines on the workgroup
3. How to make certain those settings and then re-used for each reboot

I would also suggest a separate posting on how to configure wireless which should address setting up security (WEP, WPA, WPA2, etc.)

All that is really needed is to copy the .sfs file to the mnt/home directory once there click on the .sfs file you should get a message that it's being mounted or something like that and a new directory window will open. copy the opt folder out of this directory by draging it to the usr/local folder. now when you boot it will be mounted automatically and you can drag the exicute file (in the case of Openoffice I drag the Staroffice.bin file to the desktop.) from urs/local/opt to the desktop so you can start the program from there. this proceedure works well with OpenOffice 3.0 and Acrobat reader. I'm sure it will with others also. There may be easier way to do it so others may chime in on that. But it has worked here for me.

Jay,
Enabling Puppy to see a shared Windows machine is quite easy. Open Pnethood from the network menu. It will scan your network for network shares. Enter the username and password for the Windows machine, click connect for the partition you want, click show and a ROX window opens showing that partition.

Seeing your Puppy machine from a windows machine is a bit more problematic but doable. Take a look at:
http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=241897&sid=ef32e294140d7b20cb47e4c9033c5e79
Use PcurlFTPd from the network menu. Setup your puppy machine as a server password required. On your windows machine open up a browser (firefox, opera, ie) and go to ftp:\\xxx.xxx.x.xxx (puppy machines IP address) It will ask who you are. I have been adding a user to my puppy machine whose home directory is /mnt.

Code:

adduser -h /mnt username

. When I tell windows this is who I am it shows me all the mounted drives on my puppy machine. I can access and download from them.

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forumYou cannot attach files in this forumYou can download files in this forum